What they were able to show us was the benefits of their new clean diesel vehicle. The 3.0 Liter TDI V6 under the hood of this Audi Q7 benefits from a variable vane turbocharger that virtually eliminates turbo lag, a high pressure piezoelectric common rail diesel injectors that are able to introduce just the right amount of diesel fuel in to the TDI power plant's combustion chamber as the German engineers deemed necessary improving economy and reduce emissions as well as a next generation set of glow plugs that get to operating temperature in 2 seconds, even in sub zero temperature. The six cylinder TDI power plant makes a maximum output of 225 HP and an astounding 406 lb-ft of torque that still gets 25 MPG in the 5000+ pound SUV. This equates to a 600 mile range with the 25 gallon gas tank and even allows the Q7 to tow up to 6600 pounds of trailer.

The only added maintenance required with the new TDI clean diesel cars is the addition of a new canister of AdBlue, and exhaust treatment that works with a DeNOx filter to reduce the diesel engine's emissions to the new stringent government regulations. However this is no cause for concern, because the special liquid doesn't have to be replaced for 50,000 miles, and even then they will take car of it at the dealership when you bring your car in for scheduled maintenance. Most often when an automaker is forced to package in a new piece, something important usually has to go, but the meticulous German design team managed to maintain a full size spare.

When asked the most important question on consumer's minds, how long will it take for a TDI clean diesel vehicle to pay off the premium over the standard gas burning Audi? Audi of America product manager and four ringed sports car specialist Chas Murphy assured us that it would take no longer than 3 years. However when we talk about that premium we also have to add that Audi is planning on selling every TDI powered Q7 with the automaker's S line trim standard.